Rayo Vallecano 2 - Numancia 1

Rayo: Keller; Alcázar (Dani Bouzas 70'), De Quintana, Ballesteros, Mingo; Quevedo, Poschner (Iván Iglesias 80'), Luis Cembranos, Michel; Bolic (Mauro 55'), Bolo. 4-4-2. Numancia: Alvaro Nuñez; Iñaki, Antía, Culebras, David Pirri; Nagore (Marini 76'), Pacheta, José Manuel; Rosu; Ojeda, Rubén Navarro (Manel 68'). 4-3-1-2.

Team changes: Rayo: De Quintana, Ballesteros, Luis Cembranos, Bolic for Patxi Ferreira, Glaucio, Iván Iglesias, Setvalls / Numancia: David Pirri for Manel.

Goals:
0-1. 24. Rosu. Ran in on near post after pass in from Nagore on right wing.
1-1. 38. Luis Cembranos. Controlled pass in from right to roll ball into net.
2-1. 84. Luis Cembranos. Took long pass and beat defender before scoring.

Rayo Vallecano recorded an important win to ensure themselves of first division football next year and send Numancia down to the second. The author of the victory was Luis Cembranos, who scored twice after Rosu had given the visitors the lead, and who was a constant threat to the Numancia defence. Juande Ramos was probably in charge for the last time in Vallecas, having being linked with the vacant job at Mallorca, and Osasuna's Miguel Angel Lotina has already been pencilled in as a replacement. Ramos's team was back to full strength, with four players returning from suspension including De Quintana and Ballesteros who came in to the back four.

Numancia were playing their last card, and three thousand fans made the journey from Soria to Madrid to give them their support. A victory in this game would have taken them to within a point of their rivals, and for a few minutes they kept their dreams alive when Rosu got on the end of Nagore's cross. But Cembranos took over, and after shooting just wide he went one better taking advantage of hesitation in the Numancia defence to level the scores. Referee Ramírez Domínguez reduced the visitors to ten men when David Pirri earned himself a second booking having only just returned to the side after a one match ban, and Cembranos was lucky not to get sent off himself a little later.

Thankfully for Rayo he stayed on long enough to get the winner, and he almost made it three with a shot against the post before finally falling foul of Ramírez in the last minute and getting himself sent off. In the dying moments Keller made a spectacular triple save from Rosu and then twice from Pacheta to keep his team ahead, and the Numancia players left the field in tears, condemned to the second division after only two seasons in the top flight. With three points separating seven teams Rayo rise up from seventeenth to eleventh, and there were some happy and relieved faces in the directors' box at the end. Their nightmare second half to the season is all but over, and they can visit Las Palmas next weekend in peace.